New Beer Sunday (Week 716)

I agree. One of the best things about NBS is the comradery. There are other, esteemed, regulars who will drink a new beer earlier in the week but post a comprehensive review of it on NBS. There's enough discord in the country as it is; we don't have to call out someone because he drinks a beer a few hours early.

 

Hi everyone, I'm on the road tonight, so this will have to be a quick hit. Right now I'm enjoying one that I picked up along the way-

Here's Industrial Arts' newest hoppy lager Bronze Medal, made in collaboration with Santa Fe Brewing.

It's certainly hoppy, but not overly so, which really works in its favor. Initially I may have been expecting an amber IPL, but that's not this beer at all. The malt is toasty and deeply flavored, yet rich and rounded. The hops give a superb citrus airy quality, as well as a zingy spicy zip. Extremely well balanced, with each element complementary and working hand in hand.

What a fine drinkable and tasty amber lager this is, nothing too fancy, with just enough complexity to maintain interest throughout. A- (4.15).

Btw, for fans of their seasonal landscape series, the next installment Winter Landscape will be a black lager, and be released on Nov. 21st. Can't wait, myself!

 

New park blender series cran-tan

4.13/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Pours like a orange juice with splash of cran. Smells about the same. Drinks smooth little light than oj in body tastes like older oj with hint of cran is very acidic and sour but fruit sour. Very tasty.

 

Your screen name is certainly appropriate.

 

Having Oddside Ale's the Nightman Leaveth. It's an imperial rye milk stout with vanilla beans aged in rye whiskey barrels.

It's an odd mixture, the sweetness coming from the stout and the dryness coming from the barrel. But it works well, the lactose sweetness gets the cut it needs from the sharpness of the rye whiskey and oak. A little expensive at my local shop (8 per 12 oz bottle) but it's pretty good stuff.

 

Good evening NBS, hope everyone is enjoying the end of the weekend once again. Mid weekend for me because UAW. Another normal weekend with a nice new beer haul of things I was seeking out. 7600 is tomorrow.

Beer:

Excellent English brown. Great fluffy head retention/lacing. Aromas and flavors of big caramel, brown sugar, brown bread dough/crust, toasted biscuit, nuts, chocolate, cocoa, and coffee; with light notes of toffee, dark fruit, herbal/grass/peppery hop and yeast earthiness. Light herbal, grassy, peppery hop; and roasted bitterness on the finish. Medium-plus carbonation and body; very creamy/bready malts; light sticky hop and chalky roast in the mouthfeel. Lightly increasing lingering bitter/carbonated dryness. No cloying/astringency. Very flavorful for 4.2%. Amazing style example overall. Very clean, rich, and well rounded English malt complexity; with mild fruity yeast and earthy hop balance. Definitely worthy of the silver medal. Will buy more singles next time. Loved it. 4.05


Chardonnay barrel grisette. This was outstanding. Nice fluffy head retention/lacing on the glass. Aromas and flavors of big lightly tart lemon, lime, peach, pear, pineapple, melon, red/green apple, white grape/wine, oak, peppercorn, hay, straw, floral, and grass; with some wheat/crackery malts; lighter notes of oaken vanilla, cream, buttery chardonnay, leathery/musty Brett funk, and yeasty earthiness. Light-moderate peppery yeast spiciness; and light wine tang/tartness on the finish. Medium-high carbonation, light-medium body, and moderately crisp/clean finishing. Silky/grainy wheat, some wine tang/tannin, and light acidity in the mouthfeel. Light-moderate increasing spicy/carbonated dryness, no astringency. Very flavorful/refreshing, (guessing) 4%. Amazing Brett/Saison yeast complexity, and perfect Chardonnay barrel integration; with a solid pale/wheat malt backbone. Looking forward to more cans from them, been drinking a ton of the Berliners. 4.15


Cheers

 

New beer #7. Thanks @larryi86 !

Dinner for One - Monday Night Brewing
IPA - 7% abv
Best by 12/24/18
Score: 3.85 (-2% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26516/373366/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
Very much a rebel in the ipa world. Very little citrus. This thing is more floral and earthy, which was at first offputting but slowly grew on me. I forgot that hops could taste like this. Thanks again Larry!

 

Glad you enjoyed and sent a can forward!!

 

New beer #2. Though I haven't had too many beers from this brewery, I try to buy them whenever I see a new one because they tend to outdo their price. For example, one of their BA Stouts, BA Johny Cash'd earned a solid 4.28 from me, despite only costing $3.25 for the can.

But, back to what's in front of us. This little guy was also pretty cheap at only $2.50. Unfortunately, the can is not dated, though my local beer store is dependable for only getting and retaining fresh beers. Also, note that Berliner Weisse is not a style that I drink a lot of, so forgive potential stupidities in my review.



As you can see, this pours opaque, bright yellow, and with only a bit of head (but note that this glass is quite wide). There is no head retention — it disappears almost immediately, and leaves no lacing. I suppose that this is fairly typical for the style. The smell is exactly what you would expect from a peach Berliner Weisse — peaches and wheat — though not as pungent as some other one that I've had this year. Taste follows the nose. Peaches and wheat dominate, and it is not as tart as many other beers I've tried in this style. There is no lactose, but there is a note of creaminess on the mouth. I'm enjoying it. The carbonation is below average for the style, though the body is light and easy drinking. This beer is solid and enjoyable, yet overall, it just feels like something is missing. But I guess that at this price, I really can't complain. I will try to rate in style. Cheers!

4.0 | 3.75 | 4.0 | 4.25 | 4.0
Final Rating: 3.97 (no rDev, first review)

 

I’m happy I didn’t read your review first, I’m getting nothing meaty on it!

 

Back for some evening beer, starting with Triple Citra Daydream from Other Half...

11/6/18 canning of this 10.5% abv imperial oat cream IPA, which, in Other Half lingo, means it is brewed with oats and lactose... This beer features Citra and Citra cryo hops - presumably triple dry-hopped... Looks like a glass of orange juice with some foam on top... Packs a huge citrus character - very sharp and tangy - impressions of orange abound, with additional edge provided courtesy of lime and grapefruit notes... The body and profile is rounded off with deeper tropical elements such as mango and its green, unripe skin... Medium-full body is relatively smooth, but any softness is offset by the sharp edge of citric acid... Moderately sweet, mildly bitter... Not necessarily a favorite of mine, but I am hard-to-please when it comes to orange and sharp citrus - in a NEIPA, I'd rather something a little more "gentle" lol... Still, not something fans of the style or brewer should pass up...

Cheers...

 

Damn, FML. I was in Redlands just the other day and contemplated taking a detour to hit up El Cerrito on the way back to NorCal. Do you know if they stock it somewhat consistently?

 

I got another new beer while waiting for Dark & Stormy to chill, going to give it a shot after reading @TheGent review this week. This one a new IPA from Resident Culture Unhallowed. I was one again surprised that this had more depth than just a sweet juice bomb. these guys are really doing a great job on all the beers they are doing.



Appearance 4.25 - Pours opaque yellow with a huge white head that settles to a nice rocky cap. Lots of sticky spotty lacing.

Aroma 4.25 - Big sweet citrus aromas of mango, pineapple and melon. Light grapefruit with a touch of floral aromas coming through.

Taste 4.5 - The flavor is not as sweet as I expected from the nose. The sweet tangerine and melon is mild but defiantly at the center of the show. There is a little bitter citrus peel on the finish but pretty much just a smooth tropical IPA.

Feel 4 - Medium bodied carbonation is pretty prickly on the tongue. A very light dryness on the finish.

Overall 4.33 - I was expecting a pretty sweet flavor based on the nose but was pleasantly surprised by the mild sweetness balanced with the light bitterness.

 

Looks like a fantastic dinner in the works there - that's a beautiful, thick cut there!

Very glad to hear that you enjoyed the bottle, Rob! This was my last one - didn't actually manage to have one myself, but I sent bottles to you, @larryi86 , and @TongoRad , and the feedback was promising. Relieved that I didn't send you anything "unworthy". Hammerheart is a quirky brewery that does primarily smoked beers, so their stuff can be iffy. It requires a certain, very open-minded palate to enjoy.

Cheers, sir!

 

That store is awesome!

 

My first beer is a toast to all the veterans out there. I'm grateful.

Last Monday was Guy Fawkes Day, and a local brewery releases an English Brown ale each year in its honor. I normally don't give brown ales much love, so I was happy to try a new local one and I'm glad that I did.


Beautiful right out of the can on the pour. A crystal-clear copper-brown color with a thick tan head. Outstanding foam retention. This was more aromatic than I expected with nutty, roasted grain along with subtle plum and raisin. The taste followed suit with the above flavors and faint toffee notes. Medium bitterness with floral and grassy notes. The feel was outstanding: light-to-medium bodied with a clean feel. One of the easiest-drinking beers I've had in a while. A great brown ale that packed huge flavor and enjoyment. I'm getting more. Cheers!

 

Stone Sanctimonious IPA 7.0 ABV, 3.89 overall. Had higher hopes for this one

Pours an efervescent gold with 2+ fingers of pearl colored head. Good head retention & lacing

S: A touch of peach, grassyness, mangos

T: Grapefruit, mango, a little orange slice, plus bready dryness along with a little grassyness up front. A touch of aspirin, grapefruit & dryness & pears as this warms. Finishes dry with a little grapefruit & aspirin, plus mangos

MF: Medium body, restrained carbonation that bulds as this warms , decent balance

Drinkable enough, but had higher hopes for this one

 

New beer #8, and my nightcap. Thanks @FlintB !

4D - Kuhnhenn
Old Ale - 13.5% abv
Vintage 2017
Score: 4.31 (+0.5% rDev)



Review:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2097/18850/?ba=CanConPhilly#review

Synopsis:
I can already tell this is going to kick the shit out of me. A bit boozy, but would never guess this was 14%. Tastes like a christmas pudding that was accidentally dropped in the bourbon punch. Might as well just serve it...just don’t tell the inlaws. Thanks again Brian!

 

Hello, NBS friends. On a beautiful late fall evening in Northern Indiana, I contemplated the subject of @lordofthewiens original post in the thread today, and I tried to remember the last time I read the comics.

And I’d guess it was ..... 30 years ago? 40 years ago? I’d guess you could count the number of times I’ve read the comics on one hand. Probably on 3 fingers of one hand - and I’m a voracious reader, as are Mrs O and Little O. Like wacky voracious.

You should’ve seen the look on the faces of the movers that came to pack our stuff last year in Minnesota and Texas when they saw our books. “WTF?” look indeed. And Mrs O reads the comics every single day, and while I read the paper daily (and have since I was probably 7 or 8 years old), I do not pause on the comics page. To quote Roger Daltry, I can’t explain.

On to today’s beers. I’m drinking this very nice IPA from an iconic brewery in our neck of the nape as I type this, and it’s Sunday, so I am adhering to the rules of this magnificent thread.



4.17/5 rDev +1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a nice, hazy burnt orange color with a dense, creamy white head that sticks like fuzz to Velcro as you drink this.

The nose is one point, with dank, fruity citrus aromas dominating the nose, i.e., “the Stone sweet spot.” The taste has flavors that follow the nose, but there’s also an astringent flavor, in this case, almost a salty flavor, that doesn’t quite fit.

I’ve tasted this in a couple of other beers that reference cryo hops, and it’s not terrible, but as I said before, it doesn’t quite fit.

The mouthfeel is crisp, and this is very enjoyable, but if that salty flavor wasn’t present, this would be world-class, IMHO.